| Styx | 1972 |
| Styx II | 1973 |
| The Serpent Is Rising | 1973 |
| Man Of Miracles | 1974 |
| Equinox | 1975 |
| Crystal Ball | 1976 |
| The Grand Illusion | review #2 | 1977 |
| Pieces Of Eight | 1978 |
| Cornerstone | 1979 |
| Paradise Theatre | review #2 | 1980 |
| Kilroy Was Here | 1983 |
| Caught In The Act (live) | 1984 |
| Edge Of The Century | 1990 |
| Greatest Hits | review #2 (compilation) | 1995 |
| Greatest Hits Part II (compilation) | 1996 |
| Return To Paradise | 1997 |
| Extended Versions (compilation) | 2000 |
(reviewed by John Sieber)
While I do not loathe the album like I used to, I still find it incredibly difficult to find redeeming qualities among the messy murk of derivative, simplistic riffs and laughable pseudo-progrssive attempts. By far, the worst offender is the "Movement for the Common Man", which actually contains two pretty decent tunes, the simple but catchy rocker "Children of the Land" and the romantic "Mother Nature's Matinee". Unfortunately, the boys decided that these two songs were destined to be cemented together by a somewhat interesting, but ultimately pointless spoken-word montage and a pathetic rendition of the main theme of Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man". Had they left the crap out, I could imagine bumping the album's rating up a couple points. As it is, it leaves me deflated and unsatisfied.
Among the other disappointments is the intro to "What Has Come Between Us", a jarring, ELP-esque solo that ultimately offends the rest of the piece, which is not too bad as a brooding slow-jam with tight motherfucking vocals. Again, the small mistakes outweigh the good points. And finally, the closing track, "After You Leave Me", tries to draw on the dark stabs of early metal i.e. Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, but instead ends up sounding like an idle threat. However, there are some amazing moments slung in between in addition to those I have already mentioned! "Best Thing" is the best representation of Styx's attempts to combine multi-sectioned prog leanings with sunny vocals ala CSN. Plus, the instrumental breaks do not offend, and add a lot to the song!
"Right Away" is another good slow rocker, like "What Has Come Between Us", only this one is not marred by a cacophonous, rackety intro. All in all, this particular release, which tallies just under 34 minutes as it is, seems laden with disgusting filler that seems like it was put there just to justify LP length. An EP with a track listing of "Children...", "Right Away", "Best Thing", "What Has Come..." (minus intro), and "Matinee" would have made a much tighter, EP-length debut for Styx. As it is, the crap degrades from the listening experience, and thus, a 5 (but just barely!).
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(reviewed by John Sieber)
Thankfully, Styx realized their fatal error in putting out such a shitty debut album, and actually put real talent behind their second effort. True, much of the album is a bit derivative of other successful bands of the early 70's, but in their defense, They were still a developing band, trying to find a real direction. Full-fledged prog rock escaped their grasp last album, but a smoother, more accessible progressive sound not only abounds here, it actually succeeds! Among the successes: "You Need Love" and "I'm Gonna Make You Feel It" are admittedly pretty blatant Yes rip-offs, but they are very catchy (as a Yes rip-off should be), and the instrumental factor in each song is unmistakable, notably the intro to "You Need Love" and the coda of "I'm Gonna Make You Feel It". In short, I give those two tracks the John seal of approval.
"Lady", despite being overrated, is a very catchy ballad, and most certainly the only good ballad Dennis DeYoung ever wrote. Rightly so, the single catapulted Styx into stardom 3 years after its original release, much like "Nights In White Satin" did for the Moody Blues. Eery, huh? "You Better Ask" is hokey as fuck, but the tongue-in-cheek lyrics, that say premarital sex is a bad thing (apparently), somewhat redeem the "barroom-muzak" instrumental track. Elsewhere, there's the multi-sectioned "Earl of Roseland", a tune that suffers from melodic schizophrenia; there are actually TOO MANY good melodies & riffs here, so none of them get the proper treatment! I guess it could be worse.
Speaking of worse, how's that "Little Fugue in G"/"Father O.S.A"? Wow. Wow this song sucks. First of all, Dennis DeYoung neutered the original "Little Fugue in G" by 1) transposing the tune into D minor, an easier key to play in than G minor, and 2) playing only the EXPOSITION, and leaving out the meaty development. My guess is that since he SUCKS ASS at keyboards, he left it out. And then he slaps Bach in the face by following up his shitty Baroque performance with that stagnant, repulsive, repetitive, loooong stinker of a ballad ("Father O.S.A"), effectively taking up EIGHT AND A HALF MINUTES of time that could have been filled by good music, or at least decent music! Nope, not here!
Thankfully, there is another tune on the album that not only makes up for "Little Fugue in G"/"Father O.S.A", but actually gives Styx quite a bit of credibility - "A Day". Not revolutionary, or course, but John Curulewski's brooding contribution slithers all over your speakers like King Crimson. Curulewski's voice is a perfect pairing for the instrumentation and the great great melody. I seriously can never ever get enough of this song. Even with the slighty boring "middle solo" section, in which there is further proof that Dennis DeYoung can't play keys for shit, the song proper is more than enough to make this my favorite Styx song, and their early period peak by a longshot.
Well, That's about it. I suggest that anyone reading this get their hands on this music. I recommend the CD though, not just for the music: In the liner notes, to recognize Chuck Panozzo on bass, it reads, "Chuck Panozzo - ass". Woopsie!
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(reviewed by John Sieber)
Due to the smash hit success of "Lady" from their 1972 release, Styx II, A&M gave Styx a big fat contract, and thus, the middle period of Styx begins. This is one of those albums that is largely overlooked because it did not sell millions upon millions of copies, like their later albums seemed to. Also, much of this material has been abandoned in Styx's live shows, bar "Lorelei", the giddy keyboard-driven rocker. But I say that's a damned shame, because most of the material on this album is really good! The mood of the album is a bit schizophrenic, as it switches between up-tempo keyboard rock and moody balladry, sometimes within the confines of the same song ("Lonely Child"'s fast intro is a perfect counterpoint to the body of the song, a dreamy slow rocker).The crazy mood really makes sense of the album cover as well, the fire of the fast tunes living in harmony with the chill nature of the ballads.
Another off-the-wall tune is "Mother Dear"; its' tight vocal harmonies during the verses and driving chorus are juxtaposed perfectly with the airy, disjunct middle section. "Born For Adventure" has some grapes on it, what with that galloping bass line and twin guitar melody. The lyrics are a pretty lame attempt at being "badass", but I've managed to forgive them for that. The same goes for the other rocker right before it, "Midnight Ride", which would be a much better tune if the slow jam in the middle were extended another 8 or 16 bars, but who am I to argue? All of my minor complaints are forgotten when "Prelude 12"/"Suite Madame Blue" begins. Yes, I am well aware that the guitar intro was probably ripped off of several other guitar solos ("And You And I", "From The Beginning"), but damnit, that doesnt mean it sounds bad! Plus, it sets up the mood perfectly for the multi-sectioned "Suite Madame Blue", which I think is a well-arranged piece, with thematic elements re-played and tweaked throughout the piece. The coda does suffer a bit, due to the really boring unison melody that sound like it was written by a ten-year-old.
However, a bad ending does not a bad album make! Solid and well-written, not without its blemishes, this is a truly good Styx album, and the last to feature the very talented songwirter/guitarist John Curulewski, as he decided to dedicate his time to his family and left on good terms. As a result, the artsy roots of the Styx sound begin to lose their foothold after this album, as they fall into a rabbit hole of slick commercialism and emasculating ballads. But hey! That won't happen for at least another four years! So, light up everybody, and join us in this celebration! Or something like that.
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(reviewed by John Sieber)
Wow. For an album with a pink cover, this sure has got some balls. It jumps out of the gate with the synth intro to "Put Me On", which I consider the best synth solo Styx ever recorded, thank you very much. The rest of the song kicks teeth, slows down into a nice floaty thing, then picks up again, closing in an accelerating tape-loop, which segues into "Mademoiselle", a light shuffle about a hairy-pitted French chick. Right after that song, we get "Jennifer", a song about jailbait. Man these guys were fucked up. "...She's seventeen, barely old enough to cry, a child in her father's eyes but a woman every night..." Gotta love it. After which we get a treat: The new guy's first song with the band! Tommy Shaw's "Crystal Ball", in which he gives a nice taste of his sweet, sweet voice and formidable guitar chops. Then things start to go downhill a bit. The throwaway rocker "Shooz" and the tribute to Dennis DeYoung's father, "This Old Man" are not exactly the pick of the litter, but the Pink Floyd-esque segue into "Clair De Lune/Ballerina" is nothing short of breathtaking. So, what's the verdict with the new lineup? Well, certainly less progressive, which is usually a problem for me. Not in this case, though.
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COMMENTS
An 8? I would rather listen to STYX 2 than this crap,the only halfway decent song here is "crystal ball" and it's not that good,the rest is crap,pure and simple!
[email protected] (john sieber)
To dan: Ya know, your over-generalization of this album is a bit distressing; however, in hindsight, so is my giving it an 8. After reading your comment, I re-listened to Crystal Ball again, for the first time in a couple months. While I think you are wrong in calling it "crap", I should re-evaluate the songs on here. I will stick by my love for the first three tunes, especially the opener, an overlooked gem. I mean, really, the guys actually played some interesting stuff here, at least more interesting than any of the shit on their first album, even better than most of Equinox! The title track is one of the weaker ones here; a little more creativity in arranging and it coulda been an art-rock classic. As it is... enh. "Shooz" and the eternally cheesy "This Old Man" really bring down the credibility here (I know the guy wrote it for his dad, but please!), but "Ballerina" aint that bad, man! At least there were some progressive harmonies here, what with that constant modulation and such. I agree it ain't no Styx II (BTW I think I underrated that one. Bump me up to a 9 on that one!), and this was a bit of a lowlight between Equinox and Grand Illusion. At any rate, I guess I might have overrated this one. Bring me down to a 7. A looooooow 7, but not low enough to be mediocre. No, this is not mediocre. You want "mediocre"? Go listen to Cornerstone. Sigh. I'll admit my wrongness here. But don't expect this to be a normal thing! I stand by the rest of the reviews, and the constantly bashed band that they belong to.
OK, I do reckon this one of their all time best albums. Taken as a whole, this album coudl be described as bouncy, fun, energetic, mysterious, prophetic and magnficent. Yes, all that. I love hwo it's upbeat and it's SO bouncy. My least favourite song is the title track and yet just listen to the chorus. It's like Pantera lightly bouncing with some semi-operatic singers singing their heart out. And This isn't even their best album! My picks are the openener, an four-way fusion of art-rock, folk music, infectious heavy metal riffs and tongue in cheek lyrics. What a song! I love how though he song ends with endlessly progressing - up chords, it still effortlessly seagues into the Euro-falvoured 'Mademoiselle' which kinds sounds like 'Getting Better' from Sgt Pepper. Oh and of-course the wonderful Old man song. I love my father and thoguht he was the best but I did reconsider that when I heard about that guy who said 'showing love was simply nothing you should have to hide, don't keep your feelings locked inside' then there comes that prophetic synth arrangement, actually the whole song has a very majestic nature. It's prog at it's best and rather than following the usual way of prog bands by writing lyrics about mysterious beings and evil spirits, they write stories about their everyday life and make them somehow seem prophetic. Very prophetic. It's cool how they put that prog-trademark majestic atmosphere into everyday settings. 'Her love gives me the power, 'her dreams carry me onward' is another example of this. And I just LOVE the rhythm section. Like I said beofre it's like a fun, rollickign version of Metallica or Pantera.
(John Sieber's review)
SHIT! How did i forget to review this one? I did all those other Styx albums and I forgot all about this one. Well, I think that this might be Styx's best album. The title track gets this one out of the gate, with those fanfare-y organ chords and a couple good melodies. The admittedly corny lyrics lay out the concept behind this album: That society places this "perfect" life in front of us that we are supposed to try to attain, but the boys are trying to tell you its all bullshit. They may be right, and this one and, well, basically all the other tunes echo this idea rather convincingly, well, convincingly by Styx standards. "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)" beings and ends with a silly little synth/acoustic guitar-driven ditty that has nothing to do with the actual song, which is a slow rocker with a messgae to "relax, take it easy". I took heed to that in 1997 and have taken it easy since (took it easy=LAZY FUCKER). Good song.
"Superstars"... God I hate this song. They should have left it off and made "Come Sail Away" a ten-minute epic. It's corny, predictable and, well, too simple. Pew, what a stinker. But hey! Next is "Come Sail Away" and I love it! I went through a stage where I hated it, but I can actually enjoy it again, and I'm happy. Well, you all know how THAT one goes, right? RIGHT?!?!?! I will state though, to clear up any confusion of the basis of the song, that it's about foolowing your dreams, not some fucking aliens or anything. Other than that I'll keep my mouth shut, excpt to say that it's good, and by itself justifies the buying of this CD (or album, whichever you prefer).
Next (which is where I think the record ends and you have to flip it. But I don't have records! HA!), a synth solo which kinda reprises the "Miss America" Pageant theme plays, segueing into, well, "Miss America". The Styx one, that is. And it's good too! The chorus is a little bloated, but it's friggin' STYX here. Ya know? But hey, that guitar riff is solid as hell. And they used perhaps the biggest example of America's media throwing perfection in our faces, too. And the synth solos in the middle are good. So there. That's also a good start to a really dark set of songs, "Man in the Wilderness" and "Castle Walls", which follow. The first is a Shaw-penned number along the lines of "Crystal Ball", but ass-loads better. We've all been there, too, feeling lost in the wilderness. But they get lost a little too long, it seems; this one coulda been cut back a bit, maybe a minute or two? Cut out that shitty-ass middle solo section, and you got a song, G! (Quick note: Even though I like this one, the "E minor slow song" really was done to death by Shaw last album ("Crystal Ball"), this album, AND next album (Love in the Midnight). Running out of ideas, are we?)
"Castle Walls" suffers a similar fate as its forerunner: Decent enough tune itself, but the middle "solo section" sucks. Then, to conclude, there's a two-minute retread of the best parts of "Come Sail Away", "The Grand Illusion", and "Superstars" (well, the least shitty part of that one) entitled "The Grand Finale", which is predicatable and a little annoying, but it's a good way to bring back light to the unusually dark side 2 (well, unusual for these guys, anyway), the album on a good note. In short, this is the best the band has actually _played_ since Styx II, and the songwriting is very strong, bar "Superstars". Can't give it a 10, though, because of the atrocity stated above. Shoulda made "Come Sail Away" longer and dropped "Superstar". Ugh. Well, you should get it anyway, no? Yes. Yes, I say! Not the band, the word. You know... Yes! Styx's peak. Get it.
HIGH POINTS: Come Sail Away, The Grand Illusion. LOW POINTS: Man In The Wilderness, Castle Walls.
The band finally hits their commercial peak here, and maybe as a result of this, The Grand Illusion is often considered to be their pinnacle. Of course, the average person might be skeptical about its' quality given that it's Styx we're dealing with here, and that it was released in 1977, which was one of the unfriendliest years an art rock band could ever face. And count me in as one of the skeptical listeners - basically, this is one of those efforts you would call a singles album (i.e. the radio hits are the only things that the album truly has to recommend amongst a sea of filler). But these hits are quite good arena prog songs - they might be guilty pleasures, but the instrumental parts are often well-written, even when that's pretty much all they have going for them (as in the weakest one, "Miss America", has an effective, though cliched, riff, though not much else outside its' irritating chorus), plus the structures and vocals are enjoyably pompous.
This is particularly true of perhaps the band's most notoriously well known song ever, in the ultra-bombastic 6 minute epic "Come Sail Away", which really works because of its' pomposity, not in spite of it. Sure, the vocals might be overblown and operatic to the extreme, and if you don't find the singing style appealing, shut the album off right now because you'll never love Styx as long as you live. Personally, I dig 'em, since they really seem to be what this particular song calls for. I also can't deny how well constructed it is in going from a powerful piano ballad to a great arena rocker as it builds up to the chorus, and they even throw in a really neat spacey middle section to help things out. What a great guilty pleasure this one is. To a lesser extent, the opening title track's theatricality effectively sets the stage for what I believe to be a loose concept album about disillusionment (particularly with the media), and everything about the song (from its' lyrical matter to the opening synth riff, and highly pleasant chorus) is quite well-written.
The rest of the album isn't quite as successful, though - "Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man)" might be a pretty good Tommy Shaw-sung anthem led by the keys (which frequently remind me a whole heck of a lot of the style of Genesis' Tony Banks, and I doubt if that's really a good thing), but the other songs aren't really terribly noteworthy. "Superstars" does have fairly catchy verses, but the song just passes by without much notice, while the lengthy "Man In The Wilderness" and "Castle Walls" are really boring, overlong and nondescript 'epics' that hover around the 6 minute mark - the former is a ponderous ballad about a soldier or something like that (it also reuses the "Miss America" riff in its' solo section), and the latter has a very deadly boring, lengthy jam plus a slow arrangement. The "Grand Finale" does end things on a good note, reprising the album's best melodies in a brief overture, but in all this is a record that seems to me highly unnecessary due to the inclusion of every worthwhile song (and even a couple that aren't) from it on hits compilations, so I wouldn't really recommend it.
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COMMENTS
I'd rate it a nine. Actually, I love Styx. It's just that this is supposed to be their best and it's definitely not my favourite. If I had to choose my favourite songs from the album, I'd say 'Man in the wilderness' and 'Castle Walls'. The first three songs all sound the same to me, but they're solid. Miss America isn't very melodic to my ears. Oh well, heaps of people like it, but I'm not one of them ;-) But Come Sail away is a mezmerizing ballad, I think it's excellent. I don't think 'Castle Walls' and 'Man in the wilderness' are boring. I think they're exciting, because of the adventurous soloing and interesting, tasteful arrangements. I don't know why Castle Walls has to be so depressing 'I was so afraid I'd lost my soul'?, but along with Man in the wilderness it shows they could really make great prog-rock, you know, a song, then a break with some excellent, adventurous instrumental parts and then they finish off with the original song. I've just picked up court of the Crimson King and the stuff on that is like that. It's with those two songs and Come Sail away Styx prove their worth as a Prog-rock band, in my ears. I don't always think a band is good or bad depending on their reputation. I think Styx are as good as Genesis [or a band like that], they just have different high points and low points. Genesis have more original ideas than Styx, while Styx are more charismatic than Phil Collins' Genesis, seeing I haven't got Gabriel territory yet. This album and the follow up Pieces of 8 actually sound similar to the kind of stuff Genesis were doing at the time, WInd and Wuthering and Then there were three. My pick of the Styx albums would be Crystal Ball and Paradise theatre
(reviewed by John Sieber)
Well, besides sporting an album cover with ugly ladies and Easter Island earrings, this is a decent album that more fully explores the realm of art rock where The Grand Illusion left off. Another concept album, this one concerns itself with the idea of money ($=a piece of 8. not bad, huh?). However, this album doesn't really succed in capturing the listener as well as past albums have. The spirit of the opening cut, "Great White Hope", is lost completely with the next track, "I'm Okay", which sounds like a throwback to "Father O.S.A". The obligatory Tommy Shaw acoustic number, "Sing For The Day", comes next, followed by "The Message/Lords Of The Ring" (J.R.R. Tolkien, anybody?). Side 2 opens up with Tommy's organ-driven rocker, "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)", and thankfully, the drive of this one is somewhat preserved in the following tracks ("Queen Of Spades", "Renegade") before mellowing out and delivering a sobering message in the title cut: "don't cash your freedoms in for gold." Finally, the listener gets a nice mellow postlude, titled "Aku-Aku", to chew on for a full 2:57. All in all, a very good album that could've been better with a more logical track sequence on the first side.
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(reviewed by John Sieber)
"Disappointing" is the only word I can think of to describe this album. I guess they figured, "well, we cut two good albums, so this one can suck a little, and the people will still buy it!" They were right; this one went platinum, following in the footsteps of Grand Illusion and Pieces Of Eight. But that don't mean it's platinum material. The first side starts off so promising too, with "Lights" (no, not the one by Journey), which is one of my favorite Styx songs. Then comes "Why Me", a harmless little rocker with a sax solo. "Babe" is a nice ballad, and their only #1 single, but I've heard it too much to be TOO impressed. "Never Say Never" is next; this song is so cheesy, but I love it anyway. And to close out the side is the moodiest damn song Styx ever did, "Boat on the River". There's an accordion, and a mandolin solo, and perfect vocal harmony, and... and... fucking WOW.
The next side features the rocker "Borrowed Time", which I kinda like, actually. The song is a bit dated (sample lyric: "Don't look now but here come the Eighties!"), but the chorus is catchy as hell. Next is the laughable ballad "First Time". It's so stale and formulaic, it makes you wonder if this is Styx. Blast you, Dennis DeYoung, and your faggy ballads!! Well, he did write "Come Sail Away", at least. Anyway, next is "Eddie", a song I later found was about Edward Kennedy. Why? Who gives a fuck about the Kennedys? Well, it does have a cool outro, but thats about it. After "Eddie", we get to "Love in the Midnight", and I fucking LOVE this one. Even though we've heard the "slow-kinda fast-slow" thing from Tommy Shaw before, he always finds a way to keep it fresh.
I noticed something about this album. The songs I like ("Lights", "Never Say Never", "Boat on the River", "Borrowed Time", "Love in the Midnight") were all at least patially penned by Tommy Shaw. And the best ones ("Never Say Never", "Boat on the River", "Love in the Midnight") were penned by only Shaw. Makes a guy wonder where this band would be without him.
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(John Sieber's review)
After Cornerstone I was worried about this band. Would they go back to their former greatness, or continue to churn out trash? Well, thankfully, they decided to write music that's worth a shit. And boy, did they do that with Paradise Theatre. It's a concept album, using the story of the Paradise Theater in Chicago (well, duh) as a metaphor for '70s American society. Not a truly deep concept, but this record is full of hits (and a couple of misses) and it manages to gel as a record. "A.D. 1928/Rockin' the Paradise" get the show on the road in true Styx fashion. Incidentally, this was used as a show opener for many Styx shows, including the Return to Paradise reunion tour. Nifty, huh? Next is Tommy's "Too Much Time on my Hands", a big hit with an off-beat intro and bridge.
The mood sobers a bit for "Nothing Ever Goes As Planned", good from a musical standpoint, but kinda depressing lyrically, like "Castle Walls" from Grand Illusion. Next is "The Best Of Times", which we've all heard on the radio, but nonetheless is a good song, and it is the heart of the concept in Paradise Theatre. Maybe Dennis DeYoung got his head out of his ass? "Lonely People" and "She Cares" follow, the former a big band number, the latter almost sounding country-rock. Both are a bit shallow, especially when compared to the rest of the album. ESPECIALLY next to the next cut, "Snowblind". What needs to be said about his tune that hasn't? We all know about the Satanic message thing (play the lyric "I've tried so hard to make it so" backwards), but don't dismiss the song because of that. This is a slow, moody rocker, a kickass guitar solo in the middle and excellent vocal overlapping near the end. The lead vocalist trades off between James Young (verses) and Tommy Shaw (chorus), too, so that's kinda cool.
After that, we get "Half-Penny, Two-Penny". the intro almost sounds like the riff to "Miss America", but don't let that throw you. It's a good tune, even if it gets cheesy with the "street sounds" in the otherwise cool bridge. At any rate, it's worth it to hear the catchy chorus, and to hear James Young yell, "I wanna be free!", then "We all wanna be freeee!!!!" at the final chorus, as the band, saxophone in tow, goes into "A.D. 1958" with a short instrumental, segueing into the "A.D.1928"/"Best of Times"-like verse melody, but different lyrics. Which brings the album full-circle, right? Wrongo. A little ragtime-like ditty entitled "State Street Sadie" can be heard in the background, fading off into the distance. Nice effect. Nice album too. Buy it.
After spending the first few years of their existence as a shabby and long-winded progressive rock band, the band eventually shifted styles around 1975's Equinox and developed a shorter brand of pompous prog-pop with lots of hard-rockin' power. The radical success they had with such pompous albums' like The Grand Illusion during the latter half of the 70's, all accumulated to this platinum-gold concept album Paradise Theatre. The one major difference between this release and the few before it though, is that much of the pomp is taken away, stripping the tunes to their basic melody. Now that much of the 'seriousness' and 'bombastic' elements are gone, you can actually tell how strong or weak an actual Styx melody is for once. To tell you the truth, it turns out that many of the melodies (on here at least) are pretty decent and catchy. Of course, the downfall is that its' obvious how highly generic and unoriginal they are as well.
When taking the album as a complete whole and forgetting everything else, it can be quite an addicting, and ultimately rewarding experience. The first half alone might be the best side Styx ever put down; from the melodic synth-piano opening bit "A.D. 1928", where Dennis Deyoung's vocals are breathtakingly beautiful (like as in "Come Sail Away"), to the well-done power ballad and reprise of "The Best Of Times", you'll be singing along all the way. The energetic and forceful stream-lined rocker "Rockin' The Paradise" has appropriate synth-licks to propel the song into its' verses, the irritatingly catchy and synth-dominated "Too Much Time On My Hands" has an interesting early-80's vibe that floats somewhere in-between disco and techno-pop, and "Nothing Ever Goes as Planned" has enough hooks and counter-melodies within it to justify its' deceptively simple and generic melody. Pretty much, a 'classic' in Styx circles.
Side two contains another gem or two in "Lonely People" and, to a lesser extent, "Snowblind". The former has memorable sax-led choruses, an eerie techno-synthesizer solo, and the one truly brilliant moment on the record with its' mind-blowing guitar solo (I'm not talking about the lengthier second guitar solo, but the first really, really short one during the synth-solo). The latter, meanwhile, is a haunting anti-drug tune (funny how I just reviewed an album before this that also had an anti-drug song with the word 'snowblind' in it, eh? - Steppenwolf's "Snowblind Friend"), with bombastic, hard-rockin' choruses. I don't like it as much as the fans do, but it's still very good.
The tunes that fill out the rest of the record is what keeps this from being the great album that it tries so hard to be. I know they wanted it to be great, but they lose too much steam before the running time is out when they bring in such filler as "She Cares", "Half-Penny, Two-Penny", and the closing bits "A.D. 1958" and "State Street Sadie". The title might have fooled some dumb fans into thinking this was one of the best albums ever, but nonetheless, it probably is Styx's greatest achievement.
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(Nick Karn's review)
HIGH POINTS: Come Sail Away, Renegade, The Best Of Times, The Grand Illusion, Too Much Time On My Hands. LOW POINTS: Show Me The Way, Babe, Suite Madame Blue.
Sometimes I don't quite understand why this band appeals to me at all. George Starostin rated them as a 'roach' band on his site for a reason - their songs (especially the ones with Dennis DeYoung singing lead vocals) are often tremendously overexaggerated in an operatic style with in many cases unspectacular musical backing and lack of great melody to back them up. Plus, although they're derivative of earlier prog bands to a point, I wouldn't even call them 'progressive' - it's just pompous art rock in accessible AOR radio format, which can lead to real cheeziness at several points. Nevertheless, they have written several unabashedly enjoyable and addictively catchy tunes, many of which are collected on this compilation, chronlogically ranging from their 1975 breakthrough Equinox to their 1990 'comeback' Edge Of The Century, plus a 1995 version of the worthy Styx II ballad "Lady" to open things up (which had to be rerecorded due to the fact that album was released on a different label).
Of course, this being Styx and everything, not all the songs here are exactly to my liking - "Babe" and especially "Show Me The Way" are cheesy, generic, and unmemorable soft rock ballads, while the somewhat meandering epic "Suite Madame Blue" and the riff-rocking "Miss America" have never done a thing for me. But luckily, the rest of the songs are all enjoyable, and a few are downright great, with several of the selections toward the middle of the disc being particularly solid, from Tommy Shaw anthems in the synth driven "Fooling Yourself" and the smooth rockers "Renegade" and "Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)" to the over the top classic epic "Come Sail Away" and the wonderfully bombastic "The Grand Illusion".
And of course, there's also the notorious "Mr. Roboto", which perfectly symbolizes my relationship with the band in that it's so over the top and ridiculous I can get enjoyment out of it. The same can also be said for the 'deep' but actually very, very moving ballad "The Best Of Times", the really harmonized "Lorelei", the dumb 'credit-roller' "Don't Let It End" and the robotic, extremely catchy synth anthem "Too Much Time On My Hands", all songs I should have a respectable hatred for, but for whatever reason don't. Good thing there are respectable Shaw compositions like "Crystal Ball" to temporarily relieve one of the exaggerated delvery created by Dennis DeYoung. Basically, this might be all the Styx you need in one package, and at the very least, it makes for a fine introduction to a guilty pleasure band that's most likely one huge singles act.
HIGH POINTS: Blue Collar Man (Long Nights), Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man). LOW POINTS: Mr. Roboto.
Let’s get one thing straight right now: Styx weren't the worst band ever. They weren't even in the bottom five or ten. For several reasons Styx have become a supposed symbol of all of the bad sides to artsy classic rock, and while I won't deny their inferiority to several of the more major classic rock acts out there, there’s no way I could ever say I didn't enjoy most of the music on here. And they've had several greatest hits compilations over the years, this one, I believe more properly titled Classics Volume 15 as it was in a serious of compilations released by A&M records on their 25th anniversary, contains mostly what you'd expect in 70 minutes worth of their music. For some this may be quite overwhelming, and I myself rarely listen to this all the way through, but it’s here if you want it.
But what about the actual tracks? “Blue Collar Man” is probably my favorite Styx song since it’s incredibly catchy and melodic and just more interesting as a whole than any of their other songs that I'm familiar with. “Fooling Yourself” from their huge The Grand Illusion album comes in as an easy second for me, with another neat little tune that tends to get stuck in my head often as well. The others range from good to mediocre (and yes, “Come Sail Away” would be close to the good), the only real stinker is “Mr. Roboto,” but you probably know all about the incredibly silly and dated tune already. So all in all you should pick this up if you have any interest in Styx, which you should because, unlike you've what been told they aren't one of the worst bands ever.
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(reviewed by Robert Grazer)
HIGH POINTS: Blue Collar Man, Fooling Yourself (The Angry Young Man). LOW POINTS: Come Sail Away.
This album is some sort of an encore collection of a bunch of live Styx stuff, with once again pretty much everything you'd expect. There’s not really much to write about it, since it’s little more than a cash-in that I blew 5 dollars on, but I'm happy as long as my two favorite Styx songs (“Blue Collar Man” and “Fooling Yourself,” in case you didn't read my other little Styx review) are here. And then you've got your “Renegade,” your “Too Much Time On My Hands” (another of my Styx favorites), your “Lady” and so on. The only track that I find to come out as rather disappointing is “Come Sail Away,” which just seems to be dragged out for far too long on here. There’s plenty to be happy about on here though, enough that I'd say it’s worth it for any sort of Styx fan, even though I hardly ever listen to it. But your buying the knowledge that, should you decide that for some reason or another it’s time to sit down and listen to some live Styx, this encore collection will be sitting right there waiting for you.
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